US hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton was sentenced here Friday to 45 days in jail for violating her probation in a reckless-driving case.

A judge at the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that the 26-year-old high profile celebrity heiress knowingly drove her Bentley with a suspended license when she was pulled over on a Hollywood street on February 27 for driving at night without headlights.

Hilton was ordered to report to a local detention facility by June 5, and if she fails to appear, she will be ordered to serve 90 days in jail, the judge said.

Testifying in her own defense before a packed courtroom, Hilton said she was unaware her license had been suspended.

But the judge dismissed Hilton's argument, drawing her attention to a "smoking gun" letter she had signed when she was pulled over on an earlier occasion in January by the California Highway Patrol.

By signing the letter, Hilton acknowledged that her license had been suspended, according to the judge. The license had been suspended as part of a probationary sentence in January for an alcohol-related reckless driving offence in Hollywood last year.

Hilton's attorney Howard Weitzman said Friday that he would appeal against the sentence, which he described as "uncalled for, inappropriate and bordering on the ludicrous."

"I think she was singled out because she is who she is. I've been involved in cases and know of cases where people have second and third driving-under-the-influence convictions and don't go to jail," said Weitzman.

Hilton, who has had roles in a number of Hollywood movies and reality TV shows, apologized to the judge before sentencing, saying, "I did what I was told. I would never just drive because Iwant to. I follow the law, I respect the law."

She appeared to be in disbelief when the judge ordered her to go to jail, and cried as people left the courtroom.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2007)